An Evaluation of the Gender Inclusivity of UK Senior Academic Job Advertisements

Job seekers often use job advertisements presented during the early stages of recruitment to gather important information about potential employers. Content of these advertisements as well as associated peripheral cues have the potential to influence job seekers' organizational attitudes. Using the elaboration likelihood model as a theoretical framework, the authors proposed that job seekers' previous work and job search experience moderate the extent to which these job advertisement characteristics influence attitudes towards organizations. Results suggest that the content of job advertisements influence the organizational attitudes of experienced job seekers more than their inexperienced counterparts. Additionally, the presence of peripheral cues (i.e. physical attractiveness of those persons shown in recruitment material) appears to have a greater effect on the organizational attractiveness perceptions of job seekers having less work and job search experience versus those having more experience. Implications of the findings regarding organizational recruitment practices are discussed.

Despite the feminisation of universities in terms of their student intake [1,2], formal positions of academic leadership in higher education remain concentrated in male hands[…]

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the objectives, activities and outcomes of the National Science Foundation ADVANCE project, Institutions Developing Excellence in Academic Leadership (IDEAL) during 2009–2012. The goal of IDEAL was to create an institutional learning community empowered to develop and leverage knowledge, skills, resources and networks to transform academic cultures and enhance gender equity, diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines at six research universities in the northern Ohio region. Over the three-year period, these institutions developed academic leaders and institutionalized gender equity transformation through multi-dimensional and multi-level initiatives, improving the advancement and leadership of women faculty in STEM disciplines.Design/methodology/approachThe authors describe the objectives, activities and outcomes of the NSF ADVANCE project, IDEAL during 2009–2012. The six research institutions included in IDEAL were Bowling Green State University, Case Western Reserve University (the lead institution), Cleveland State University, Kent State University, University of Akron and University of Toledo.FindingsIDEAL’s outcomes included the institutionalization of a number of gender equity initiatives at each university, an increase in the number of tenured women faculty in science and engineering disciplines over three years across the six universities, and increases in the numbers of women in faculty and administrative leadership positions. Out of 62 of the IDEAL participants (co-directors and change leaders), 25 were promoted or appointed to roles of leadership within or beyond their institutions during or after their participation in IDEAL. A number of new institutional collaborations and exchanges involving the six universities occurred during and emerged from IDEAL. An integrative model of the IDEAL program is developed, describing the nested components of each institution’s gender equity transformation within the IDEAL partnership consortium and the larger NSF ADVANCE community, and highlighting the dynamic interactions between these levels.Social implicationsThe IDEAL program demonstrates that systemic change to achieve equity for women and underrepresented minority faculty in STEM disciplines must be rooted on individual campuses but must also propagate among higher education systems and the broader scientific community. The effort to develop, sustain and expand the IDEAL partnership model of institutional transformation (IT) in higher education illuminates how innovative, context-sensitive, cost-effective and customized institutional strategies may be implemented to advance gender equity, diversity, inclusion and leadership of women faculty at all levels across the country.Originality/valueThis is an original description of a unique and distinctive partnership among research universities to foster gender equity IT. The manuscript details the objectives, activities and outcomes of the IDEAL program, established with the aim of broadening participation in the STEM academic workforce and advancing gender equity, diversity and inclusion in institutions of higher education. An integrative model is developed, illustrating the key components and outcomes of the IDEAL program.

PurposeFrom managerial perspective, the authors investigate the boundary and effective conditions of recruitment practices (e.g. job advertising and manager recruiting behavior) on recruitment outcomes that include employer image and organizational commitment in the context of recruitment practices. Drawing on signaling theory, the authors argue that using recruitment practices is generally more effective for creating employer image and organizational commitment.Design/methodology/approachThe authors received a final sample of 213 from the employees of beverage industry. In doing so, statistical softwares SPSS (v.23) for data screening and SmartPLS (v.3.3.3) were used for hypothesis testing.FindingsUsing survey-based study, the study finds (1) that recruitment practices including job advertising and managers' recruiting behavior can be superior to developing employer image that positively can value the organizational commitment (2) The study identifies a significant role of employer image that is mediating between recruitment practices and post recruitment outcome (e.g. organization commitment).Practical implicationsThe outcomes of the study provide valuable directions for human resource (HR) managers in national and multinational public organizations. The article offers recruitment strategies/practices to enhance employer image and organizational commitment.Originality/valueThe novelty of the study is the unique research framework, as the current paper is among the pioneers to empirically analyze the effect of recruitment practices on post-recruitment outcome testing the mediating relationship of employer image between job advertising organizational commitment and between managing recruiting behavior and organizational commitment.

Recruitment Strategies in Private Higher Education Institutions in England This qualitative research study explores recruitment strategies employed by Private Higher Education Institutions (PrHEIs) in England. The study aims to gain insights into the various recruitment practices and challenges faced by PrHEIs in attracting and selecting suitable candidates for academic and administrative positions. The research methodology involves semi-structured interviews with 12 key stakeholders, including HR managers and academic leaders, from a diverse range of PrHEIs. Through thematic analysis, the study identifies common themes and patterns in recruitment strategies, including advertising channels, selection criteria, and the use of technology in the recruitment process. Additionally, the research highlights the importance of aligning recruitment practices with the unique characteristics and goals of PrHEIs to attract qualified candidates and enhance organisational effectiveness. The findings contribute to the existing literature on recruitment in higher education and provide practical insights for PrHEIs to optimise their recruitment strategies and practices. Keywords: Recruitment Strategies, Advertising Channels, Selection Criteria, Challenges, Private Higher Education Institutions, England

Business organizations use job advertisements to find and attract the high-quality workforce they need. Skillfully crafted job advertisements not only provide job-related information to job seekers but also help develop a strong employer brand in the employee market. Based on signaling theory and person-environment fit theory, we propose that the content and specificity of information provided in job advertisements influence job advertisement effectiveness through various mechanisms. In a scenario-based experiment on 310 young job seekers, we probed the direct and indirect effects of job advertisement informativeness on job pursuit intentions. Using structural equations modelling and multi-group path analysis, the mediating roles of perceived job appropriateness and ad truthfulness, along with the moderating role of previous employment experience, were examined. By manipulating the information content of a hypothetical job advertisement, we demonstrated that: a) both advertisement informativeness and perceived job appropriateness had positive direct effects on application intentions, while the latter had a greater effect; b) perceived job appropriateness mediated the relationship between advertisement informativeness and job pursuit intentions; c) the indirect (mediated) effect of advertisement informativeness on application intentions was moderated by previous employment experience; d) perceived ad truthfulness did not exert any significant effect on application intentions. These findings imply that HR practitioners should provide specific information in job postings to help candidates, especially those with less work experience, evaluate how well the job suits them and increase their motivation to apply.

Workforce diversity in public sector organizations in sub-Saharan Africa is supported by legal statutes and mandates as opposed to organizational policy initiatives. HR audits indicate a skewed distribution of specific ethnic groups and an aged workforce with redundant skills due to recruitment practices. Due to the dearth of studies on workforce diversity in sub-national governments in Sub-Saharan Africa, the study examined the role of recruitment practices in enabling workforce diversity in the County Government of Trans- Nzoia. The study was guided by the social identity theory and adopted a descriptive design that was cross-sectional in the time dimension. The study censused senior employees of the County Government and employed a questionnaire as the main research instrument The study carried out data analysis through descriptive analysis and used regression analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0 and the output presented in the form of graphs, Charts, and tables. The descriptive statistics indicated the county government values employee qualifications and uses both internal and external job advertisements, with a skewed but consistent selection process. Use of interviews with little application of the psychometric test of candidates as a screening criteria. Workforce diversity significantly correlated with the recruitment practices; with job advertisements (r = 0.781, p< 0.05), and screening process (r = 0.679, p< 0.05), The study concluded that the recruitment practices have a positive effect on workforce diversity. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the county government support competitive recruitment procedures to improve workforce diversity. The study implications are that sector organizations can promote workforce diversity through efficient practices. The study calls for the HR professional to critically examine the different aspects of HRM in public sector organizations. The study findings are beneficial to sub-national governments, policymakers/legislators, and other scholars in Kenya

Job advertisements are often worded in ways that might pose discrimination risks leading to the exclusion of certain groups of applicants, particularly in relation to their gender. Especially in male-dominated professions or leadership roles, the specific linguistic formulation of job postings acquires relevance if more women are to be attracted to apply. Various technologies have emerged that offer automated text screening, some of them even suggesting alternative formulations to increase gender inclusivity. In this study we analyze four software providers on the German market using a corpus of ∼160, 000 job ads from three different platforms. We identify the relevant social psychological research on gender and language that is at the scientific core of these technologies. We show that, despite sharing a common foundation, the four tools assess the potential for exclusion in job postings in a considerably divergent way on multiple levels of comparison. We discuss the levers in the software pipeline of all four technologies, as well as the potential effect of certain implementation decisions, such as string-based vs. semantic approaches to computational processing of natural language. We argue that the ‘technological translation’ of research is extremely involved and further studies of its use in practice are needed to assess the potential for more gender equality.

The concept of the employer brand has been developing intensively and it is the subject of interest and research of scholars and practitioners in the field of both marketing and human resource management. The aim of the research presented in the paper is to examine the content of job advertisements of the most desirable employers in Serbia, as well as to examine the extent to which they communicate the elements that potential candidates value when assessing the attractiveness of employers. By employing content analysis, the content of job advertisements of Serbian most attractive employers is determined and classified. In total, 291 job advertisements of 18 most desirable employers published on the Infostud platform in the period March-June 2021 were analyzed. In the exploratory research, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of published job advertisements was performed. The results of the research indicate that the content of job advertisements of the most desirable employers in Serbia most often communicates about the work environment and opportunities for acquiring knowledge. In addition, instrumental aspects of the workplace, ie information related to earnings, bonuses and rewards, are communicated more often for lower positions. Although not all elements describing the desired employer were part of the content of the advertisements, it was determined that the most desirable employers in the advertisements pay attention to visual solutions, topics shown in photos, engaging employees in communicating the employer's brand, and communication of product brands.

Beyond and within the NS/NNS discourses: English teaching in the Saudi PYPs

Organisations need highly loyal employees in order to fulfil the needs of their stakeholders and achieve success. Employer branding (EB) could be a powerful tool for attracting employees with high potential. In this article, we present two separate studies. The first study involves a content analysis of 100 online job advertisements in order to investigate whether and how EB is currently used in recruitment practices in the Netherlands. The second study involves a subsequent experiment comparing a job advertisement containing elements of EB to one without these elements. Results from the first study show that EB is hardly ever used in recruitment communication in the Netherlands. Results from the experiment reveal a preference for advertisements containing EB with regard to several factors. On the basis of these results, we can conclude that corporate positioning, internal branding, EB and related practices could be successful avenues for organisations. EB should obviously stem from the organisation's position and corporate identity. A branded identity might offer major advantages in the war for talent.

UK universities have gone through drastic changes driven by the marketization of higher education. From the perspective of critical discourse analysis, Fairclough hypothesizes that university discourse will be colonized by business discourse. While a number of studies have been conducted, to my knowledge no study has compared university discourse and business discourse both synchronically and diachronically. This article compares how employer organizations are discursively constructed synchronically and diachronically in 240 academic and business job advertisements. The analytical frameworks are transitivity analysis and modality. The results indicate that academic job advertisements have changed from not mentioning organizations to discursively constructing organizations in a promotional manner like business job advertisements. In addition, universities reframe themselves as businesses, entrepreneurs and service providers. This article contends that universities should be selective in adopting business discourse and maintain their identity as educational institutions.

The frequency of discriminatory language in job advertisements placed by U.S. multinational corporations operating in Mexico was compared with that of Mexican companies using content analysis. A sample of 300 ads placed by companies from each culture was analyzed and coded by two groups of coders to calculate the frequency of discriminatory language in the job ads with respect to age, gender, physical appearance and marital status. Results of a chi square analysis revealed that U.S. multinationals firms in Mexico utilize discriminatory language in job ads less frequently in the categories of age, gender and marital status. This result suggests that the legal and cultural framework of the country of origin of U.S. enterprises in Mexico may be influencing their actual recruitment practice in Mexico, and in turn, help them in setting a positive example of non-discrimination in recruitment among their Mexican counterparts.

Gender coding in job advertisements for academic, non-academic, and leadership positions in emergency medicine

224 Gender Coding in Job Advertisements for Academic, Non-Academic, and Leadership Positions in Emergency Medicine